Napoleon landed in Portoferraio on 3 May 1814 to take possession of the small kingdom which, with the Treaty of Fontainebleau, had been assigned to him in exchange for his abdication. Despite his short period of exile (only 10 months) Napoleon profoundly influenced the history of the island. His presence on Elba is demonstrated by his two residences: Villa dei Mulini (winter residence) and Villa San Martino (summer residence) where the Demidoff Museum is also located where you can admire valuable furnishings, works of art of great value, imperial friezes as well as the extraordinary collection of over a thousand volumes coming directly from Fontainebleau and the flag with the three golden bees, symbol of the industriousness of the Elban people. Napoleon also created important works including a theater (now the theater of the viglianti) and some of the main arteries of Elba.

Visiting the historic center of Portoferraio, the heart of the ancient Cosmopolis, you can discover, in addition to some interesting historical monuments and sacred places, narrow and winding stairway streets that open onto panoramic squares, old houses with flowered balconies and suggestive corners where you can meet local characters ready to tell anecdotes and curiosities about life on the island. At the Medici pier you pass under the Porta a Mare enlarged by Ferdinand II in 1637, cross Piazza Cavour and arrive in the ancient Piazza d'Armi. From here you can see the Cathedral which, built during the 16th century and enlarged in subsequent phases, preserves a Visitation by Passignano. On the opposite side stands the Town Hall, modified during the 19th century, and is also called Biscotteria because it housed the bread ovens for the garrisons. It is also home to the Foresiana municipal library donated by the collector Mario Foresi in 1920 which includes, in addition to the 20,000 volumes, a large number of sixteenth-century ones. In via Garibaldi we find the Church of the SS. Sacramento which, built in 1668 and enlarged in 1731, has an elegant interior with a coffered wooden ceiling. The street continues with a stepped road called Salita Napoleone which leads to the Church of the Misericordia, where a small museum preserves Napoleonic relics. Not far away, the Chapel of the Madonna di Loreto from 1745 and the former convent of S. Salvatore, now a cultural and conference center and home to the Foresiana Municipal Art Gallery. Continuing towards the sixteenth-century fort of the Star, through the internal streets that wind between the former military residences, you arrive at the lighthouse, commissioned by the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1788, which offers panoramic views of the gulf.

In front of the Portoferraio dock on the Grotte promontory, excavations have brought to light the ruins of a large Roman villa. Here you can admire parts of decorations and mosaics from the Hadrian age.The ruins remained covered by brambles until 1960, when excavation work brought to light the large complex with opus reticulatum walls, large terraces overlooking the sea and a swimming pool equipped with a heating and water purification system. waterfall. Not far away in Magazzini there is the small church of Santo Stefano alle Trane, original for its particular architectural forms and certainly one of the most fascinating Pisan Romanesque churches existing on the island. Inside the Linguella complex you can also visit an interesting archaeological museum, where amphorae and finds dating back to the Etruscan era are on display. The municipality of Portoferraio includes around fifteen beaches, some of the most beautiful on the island of Elba, all within a short distance from the capital.